The First Chechen Campaign

Prelude to War
	1991-1992	Chechnya declares independence from Russia. Raids on Russian military supply dumps by Chechens begin.
1993
		Chechen Republic is listed in Russian constitution as a subject state of the Russian Federation, but chooses not to participate its government.
	January	Chechens meet with Sergei Shakhrai, chairman of the State Committee of Nationalities to work out an agreement.
	June	A battle erupts between Chechen National Guard and Russian Parliament supporters in Grozny. Approximately 100 people killed.
1994
	February	The last Russian army units specializing in urban warfare are disbanded and integrated with conventional army units.
	6 August	Battle between Dudaev and opposition forces in Nadterechny region.
	10 August	Meeting in Grozny of Chechen clan chieftains. They vote to declare a 'holy war' if Russian forces invade Chechnya.
	1-6 September	More fighting between Dudaev forces and opposition groups led by former Grozny mayor Beslan Gantemirov, Ruslan Labazanov, and Avturkanov. Dudaev forces push back opposition despite their use of armor and alleged support of Russian helicopter gunships.
	13 September	More localized fighting occurs.
	15 September	Two of Grozny's television transmitters are destroyed. Dzhokhar Dudaev signs a decree that imposes martial law and curfews on people within Chechnya.
	30 September	Opposition forces attack main airport in Grozny and claim to have destroyed much of the Chechen air force..
	14-16 October	Opposition forces with Russian helicopter support destroy an army barracks and ammunition dump in Grozny's suburbs. Dudaev's forces capture Urus-Martan - the headquarters of Beslan Ganetmirov's faction.
	17 November	Dudaev's forces attack a tank column near the village of Bratsk.
	25 November	A large group of 40 Russian air force helicopters attacks Grozny airport. Most of the 266 aircraft in the Chechen air force are destroyed.
	26-27 November	Russian backed Chechen forces launch a poorly organized attack on Grozny. The attack reaches the Presidential Palace before breaking up. Many tanks are surrounded and destroyed by rebel RPG fire.
	29 November	Boris Yeltsin gives an ultimatum to Chechnya, "Disarm and Surrender." Chechens refuse and Yeltsin orders a massive attack.
	1 December	Russian forces begin massive aerial bombardment of Grozny and other military targets in Chechnya.
	8 December	Boris Yeltsin convenes meeting of Russian Security Council. They order total the disarmament of bandits and Chechen paramilitary forces.
	9 December	The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) is ordered in to Chechnya to disarm rebels.
	11 December	Elements of the 19th, 81st, 129th, and 255th Motor Rifle Divisions invade Chechnya from the North, East, and West. Chechen President Dudayev declares war. In Moscow, opposition to war increases.
	13 December	Bombing and Artillery strikes are stepped up as fierce fighting breaks out all across Chechnya.
	16 December	Both sides take significant losses. There are faint hopes of peace talks.
	24 December	President Yeltsin issues an order forbidding the Russian air force from bombing Grozny.
	31 December	Assault on Grozny Six thousand troops and hundreds of tanks are used against several thousand Chechen irregulars. Fierce battles take place. Several hundred Russian troops are killed in battle for Railway Station. Around 2000 soldiers reported lost in first day of fighting.
1995
	1 January	Battle for Grozny degenerates into house to house fighting. Russian helicopters provide close air support to troops in neighborhoods.
	2 January	Russian forces prematurely claim that center of Grozny was under their control.
	3 January	Russian Su-24 and Su-25 aircraft finally begin bombing operations in support of ground troops in Grozny.
	Mid-January	Russian Major General Viktor Vorobyov is killed by a mortar shell. Ceasefire to bury the dead is brokered. Russians continue to land reinforcements at Mozdok and Besian air bases.
	19 January	Chechen presidential palace is destroyed by Russian bombs. Russians forces take burned ruin of the Chechen capital building after taking heavy losses. The national tricolor is raised over the battered presidential palace.
	23-29 January	A five man fact-finding commission backed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) testifies to the increasing human cost of the war.
	February	Russian forces in Chechnya number 30,000 men. Most of these are located in or near Grozny.
	6 March	Shamil Basaev and several hundred men ride into Grozny's central train station on a captured train. A large battle for the city begins.
	11 March	Rebel forces in Grozny are forced from the city by MVD troops, but only after taking several hostages. 200 Russians and an unknown number of rebels were killed.
	20 March	The Russian army begins a new offensive to take the towns of Shali and Argun. Heavy aircraft and artillery strikes are followed up by armored infantry assaults.
	14 June	Some 200 insurgents under Tamil Basayev hold 1,500 civilians hostage inside the Budennovsk city hospital.
	17 June	As negotiations continue with Basayev the Russian MVD, the elite anti-terrorist Alfa group, and army Spetsnaz forces storm the hospital. They take the first floor but withdraw after failing to make any further progress.
	19 June	Negotiations conclude. Rebels leave the hospital. A total of 150 civilians were killed during the event.
	30 July	Russian government and forces loyal to Chechen president Dudayev sign a cease fire. The protocol also called for the disarming of rebel formations, and exchange of prisoners, and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
	Fall	Rebels attempt to assassinate General Romanov the former commander of Russian forces in Chechnya. This ends the cease fire agreement signed on 30 July of that year.
	Late 1995	Chechen forces under Salman Raduyev attack the city of Gudermes which was thought to be under firm Russian control. After two weeks of inconclusive fighting the rebels are granted safe passage outside the city.
	Late 1995	Elections are to be held in Chechnya to replace the Russian backed government that took power after Dudayev was driven from Grozny. They are scheduled to take place 17 December. Many human rights groups call for cancellation of elections citing the poor state of the region.
1996
	January	In 1996 Chechen forces take about 100 civilians hostage in the city of Kizlyar and then transported them to Pervomayskoye (both in Dagestan). During the stand-off the Chechen separatists tortured, burned alive, and left the remains of three hostages they had previously abducted from the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs.
	15 January	In another incident a group of Chechen rebels hijack a ferry (the Avrasya) on the Black Sea. They threaten to blow up the ship and their 200 hostages.
	19 January	The four-day hijacking of the Avrasya is ended peacefully near Istanbul with the help of the Turkish government.
	January	Airborne elements of two divisions are used to end the Pervomayskoye hostage crisis. The town is destroyed resulting in many civilian casualties. The number of rebels killed is not known.
	March	In 1996 federal forces shelled the village of Sernovodsk while refusing to allow civilians to leave the area, resulting in numerous deaths. Similarly, in an assault on Samashki, the federal forces gave inhabitants 2 hours warning to evacuate before shelling commenced.
	21-22 April	President Dzhokar Dudayev, leader of the Chechen uprising, was lethally wounded in his head by a shell fragment. He died shortly afterwards. According to one report, he was killed in the field while trying to establish a connection via a satellite phone.
	May	Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev signs a cease-fire agreement with Boris Yeltsin in Moscow. It was followed by a full armistice that declared that all Russian 'temporary' troops would be withdrawn by August 30 of that year.
	June	Shortly after Russian presidential elections, Russian federal forces launch an offensive against Chechen rebels. This leads many to believe that the May agreement was only a ploy to bolster Yeltsin's election campaign.
	Late June	Russian forces begin a partial withdrawal, but fighting continues in some regions of Chechnya.
	10 July	Russian Federal forces breaking the cease-fire shortly after the Russian presidential election by launching a "preemptive strike" against Geikhi, a village the Russians claim is harboring rebels. Chechen forces claim there were no rebel soldiers in the village.
	July	Russians mount other attacks against the villages of Mairtup, Kurchaloy, and Artury.
	3-5 August	Rebels begin infiltrating Grozny in small groups.
	6 August	Two groups of rebels numbering between 50 and 60 men seize the train station and begin moving to the center of the city. Basaev leads a group of 600 rebels in this operation. Rebels eventually are reinforced to a strength of 4,000 men. A stubborn defense of the FSB building saves it from being taken by rebels, but the defenders lose 70 men.
	11 August	Russian reinforcements arrive from nearby Khankala and recapture the city after a difficult battle. Russian forces lose 500 men and have 1,400 missing or wounded.
	22 August	Alexander Lebed takes over negotiations with the Chechen commander Aslan Maskhadov. This results in the signing of the Khasavyurt peace accords. The accord called for an end of hostilities, full prisoner exchange, the formation of a joint coalition government, and for Russian forces to be withdrawn from Chechnya by December. The two sides also agree to resolve Chechnya's status within 5 years.
	Fall	President Yeltsin dismisses Lebed from his post. Despite this the peace process continued as Russian troops continue withdrawal from Chechnya, leaving the separatist forces in effective control of the Chechen Republic.
	November	Russian and Chechen forces agree to hold elections in early 1997.
	16 November	Explosion at Russian military apartment kills 68 people.
	December	Russian military forces complete their withdrawal from Chechnya.
1997
	February	Chechen elections take place on schedule. The people of the republic elect Aslan Maskhadov as president of Chechnya.
	February	Russia approves an amnesty for soldiers and rebels who committed illegal acts in connection with the war in Chechnya between 9 December 1994 and 1 September 1996. Crimes such as murder, rape, and hostage taking are not covered by the amnesty.
	May	President Boris Yeltsin and Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov sign a peace agreement where both sides agree to settle their dispute by peaceful means. In the earlier 1996 agreement, the two sides agreed to resolve Chechnya's political status prior to 2001
	July	An agreement between Azerbaijan, Chechnya, and Russia is signed allowing oil exports from Azerbaijan. Russian and Chechen sides differ over issues of tariffs and war repatriations however.
	November	Shamil Basayev is named as Acting Chechen Prime Minister.

Below are what we consider to be the most complete statistics on the losses suffered by Russian forces during the conflicts in Chechnya as of March 2000. These figures are still subject to debate in some cases. It may be many years before the true statistics are known. One example of the disputed statistics is in the case of the number of troops lost. While the Russian Colonel General Kulikov claims 1,253 soldiers lost, other organizations claim that 4,300 men have actually been killed in action. When definitive statistics become available we will use them.

History of the First Chechen Campaign
Prelude to War 1993 1994	1995 1996 1997
Costs of the Campaign